In the year 2020, everything changed, including the beauty sector, which had previously been controlled by huge brands and brick-and-mortar shops. Consumers are gravitating toward direct-to-consumer (D2C) cosmetics brands like Glossier and Drunk Elephant, which are primarily available online, but there is a shift afoot. As a result, eCommerce is expected to account for 48 per cent of cosmetics sales by 2023. These beauty eCommerce trends are merely another example of how the pandemic has forever altered consumer shopping habits. However, it also reflects the influence of younger consumers, who place a premium on convenience and quality while looking for new products online.
Naturally, the Davids of the beauty sector will have more opportunities to compete with the Goliaths as a result of this transition. Furthermore, cosmetic firms that sell online have access to data that they wouldn’t get via in-store sales, putting them in a better position to address future consumer demand.
Here are the top five beauty eCommerce trends to watch this year if you’re a beauty brand selling online:
It’s all about the clean look these days.
Consumers continue to embrace sustainable products in the consumer product goods (CPG) business, and they’re also flocking toward clean beauty, which includes products manufactured with natural and/or organic materials. This growth, which is one of the most visible beauty eCommerce trends, represents a significant shift away from popular, name-brand goods made with chemicals, and reflects a growing consumer awareness of what they put in and on their bodies.
According to research, the global market for clean beauty would reach $54.5 billion by 2027. It’s vital to remember that products labeled as “clean” must meet certain requirements, which vary depending on the market. So, before you start selling clean beauty goods in a new country, double-check that you’re following local legislation. Noncompliance can quickly turn into a public relations nightmare that is tough to overcome, especially in a new market.
However, the rise of clean beauty shows that consumers care more about ingredients, sourcing, and results than they do about pricing. This provides an opportunity for brands to connect with consumers through shared values and a larger sustainability message. It also encourages businesses to concentrate their development efforts on higher-end products in the category.
The importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion should be prioritized.
Beauty brands are also showing more diversity, equity, and inclusion than ever before, which is a big break from a historically limited standard. According to research, color selections in cosmetics have risen at a 7x faster rate than product lines in recent history.
As a result, more customers will be able to find hues that match their skin tones. However, there are still unmet needs, thus this beauty eCommerce movement offers more potential for product development.
Brands like Fenty Beauty and KKW Beauty have lifted the bar for inclusion in both product selection and brand messaging, making this one of the most significant beauty eCommerce trends. Take Fenty Cosmetics, which has 40 foundation tones, and a face shade finder quiz to help you find your exact match. The models on the Fenty website come from a wide range of backgrounds, and beauty firms would be advised to follow Fenty’s lead as customers want more diversity in brand marketing, social media outreach, and product assortment.
The Offline-Online Gap Can Be Bridged With Technology
One issue that beauty firms confront online is that they are unable to allow potential clients to try on products before purchasing them.
Technology such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and artificial intelligence (AI) are helping smart firms bridge the gap by building stunning beauty website design, fashion website design, etc. Thus, providing customers a clearer idea of what their products will look like once they come in the mail.
These high-tech implementations, in general, use smartphone cameras to overlay products on consumer selfies. Prior to the epidemic, huge businesses like L’Oreal, which purchased AR beauty company Modiface in 2018 to enable virtual try-on, were mostly responsible. Store closures during the pandemic, on the other hand, forced firms to get inventive with immersive technology to keep customers engaged, therefore this shift has recently exploded among the expanding beauty eCommerce trends.
Users of the social networking platform Pinterest, for example, may now digitally test on makeup and lipstick. Lancôme, YSL, Urban Decay, and NYX Cosmetics are among the first to adopt it, according to reports. Late last year, another popular app, Snapchat, collaborated with AR company Perfect on a similar feature. Then, in a collaboration with Perfect and ModiFace, Google enabled even more virtual try-on like Mac Cosmetics, Black Opal, and Charlotte Tilbury.
While smaller beauty brands may not have the resources to form high-profile partnerships to align with the most high-tech of the beauty e-commerce trends, the mixed reality market — which includes both AR and VR — is expected to grow to $43 billion by 2024, so they will likely have more opportunities to embrace the technology in the near future if they haven’t already.
Personalization of products takes center stage.
Consumers have grown to demand personalization in their encounters with brands; according to 2018 research, 80 percent of respondents were more willing to purchase from companies that provided tailored experiences.
Meanwhile, one of the most popular beauty eCommerce trends is skincare. This includes moisturisers, serums, and exfoliants, as well as collagen, vitamin C, and CBD-infused products. Consumers are not just looking to prevent indications of aging, but they’re also increasingly mindful of sun damage, indicating that anti-ageing solutions have even more potential.
Personalized skincare, which uses some of the technology outlined above, combines these two concepts. This includes Neutrogena’s MaskiD 3D-printed face mask, which was introduced in 2019. However, we see today’s eCommerce beauty trends reflected in items like La Roche-wearable Posay’s sensor for measuring skin pH and creating personalized products, as well as Skinceuticals’ individualized serums.
While these examples are still the exception rather than the rule, the growth of direct-to-consumer brands like Prose, which provides personalised hair care, indicates a broader opportunity for custom-made products in the beauty industry, especially as consumer demand for personalised experiences grows.
Social Media Is No Longer Just a Marketing Tool
The adoption of social media marketing services has been huge recently. This is another emerging trend in beauty e-commerce is social selling, in which brands not only target and engage customers online but also allow them to purchase products directly from the social media sites they use. Walmart held its second-ever shoppable TikTok Livestream centered on cosmetics this past March.
Though this is a new trend, the confluence of commerce and social media is one to keep an eye on, since social media has long been a source of new beauty goods for consumers.
Because millennials are considerably more likely than previous generations to make decisions based on social proof, posting reviews on your website and in social copy can be a potent motivation.
It’s all in the eye of the beholder.
While beauty product sales dropped during the shutdown, prompting Schick, a razor business, to try to position eyebrows as the new lips at one time, the industry is nevertheless primed for massive post-pandemic growth.
And a few things are already clear: the industry is being reshaped by younger consumers. These new beauty e-commerce trends provide chances for beauty firms to expand their product lines, reach new consumers, provide new functionality, and sell in new channels.
Author’s Bio
A creative and passionate mobile application enthusiast with over 10 years of experience in providing IT solutions across various industries. Nitesh Behani is the Co-Founder of Magneto IT Solutions, a full service of Mobile App Development in the USA, India, and Bahrain. He has experience in delivering more than 100+ projects ranging from web technologies to mobile application technology.